H.I.G. Growth Partners Completes the Sale of Fidelity Payment Services
CHICAGO – July 19, 2022 – H.I.G. Growth Partners (“H.I.G.”), the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, is pleased to announce the sale of its portfolio company, Fidelity Payment Services (“Fidelity” or the “Company”), a provider of fully-integrated omni-channel payment processing technology, to PSG. H.I.G. coinvested in the transaction and will continue as a minority shareholder.
Fidelity Payment Services’ differentiated payments system and white glove support is powered by its proprietary technology platform and payment gateway, Cardknox. The cloud-based platform enables merchants to accept virtually any payment type – credit and debt, EMV chip card, ACH, mobile wallet and others – across multiple channels, including in-person, online, mobile and unattended payment terminals. Fidelity’s solution enables a frictionless and secure payments experience for both merchants and customers, provides merchants with the visibility and insights they need across channels, and reduces costs using the Company’s proprietary interchange optimization capabilities.
David Ilowitz, Fidelity’s CEO, commented, “We really appreciated H.I.G.’s partnership with Fidelity over the last five years. The H.I.G. team added significant value to both our business and leadership team, including supporting strategic investments across our business. We are thrilled to see H.I.G. remain as an investor, which speaks to the many opportunities we see in our future. The Fidelity team is excited about our next phase of growth.”
Through partnership with the H.I.G. team, Fidelity undertook numerous strategic initiatives and investments. As a result, the Company more than doubled both its annual processing volume to over $15 billion and customer base to over 22,000 merchants across a variety of industries—grocery, charitable organizations, healthcare, education, amusement / entertainment, restaurants, travel, retail, among others—by partnering with Independent Software Vendors (“ISVs”) and Agents with its Cardknox technology platform. The Cardknox platform operates on both a traditional referral and Payment Facilitation (“PayFac”) model and allows ISVs and merchants the flexibility and control to customize their specific payments acceptance requirements.
“We are proud to have been partners to David and the entire Fidelity team in scaling the business,” said Anish Sheth, Principal at H.I.G. Growth Partners. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to play a role in Fidelity’s evolution and continued growth as a leader in omni-channel payments technology. Given the tremendous potential we see ahead, we’re excited to continue our partnership with Fidelity alongside PSG.”
William Blair acted as financial advisor to Fidelity and Paul Hastings LLP acted as legal counsel to H.I.G. in connection with the transaction.